Being a Feminist in High School

Several weeks ago I overheard a conversation between two of my male peers. They were discussing what they felt was a grossly unequal method of teaching by one of our mutual teachers.

The teacher they were talking about (let’s call her Ms. Jackson) is outspoken, liberal and undeniably candid with her students. She is known for the frank manner with which she discusses the marginalization of minority groups and the continued discrimination against women.The best way I can describe her is to say she is unapologetic in opening our eyes to the truth. Additionally, she is the adviser to my club, Feminist Empowerment Movement (FEM).

So the conversation between these boys, who I do not feel compelled to assign names, went a little something like this: (Disclaimer: This is by …

Innocence Lost

Life never passed more slowly than it did when I cried behind the football stands. Like a movie, the crowds cheered while I bowed my head in defeat, the music roared while my smile was muted. Small towns are bubbles to be popped at the break of innocence. “Life is good if you believe in goodness.”

But when a short, acne scarred boy approached me with venom in his eyes — there was nothing good about that day. When he told me rape was a woman’s fault — there was nothing good about that day. When he told me women should know better and protect themselves 24/7, all hours of the day, with guns in their hands — there was nothing good about that day.

Silencing the Fear: Coming Out As A Feminist

In a day and age in which many people believe feminism is no longer needed or just outright misunderstand what feminism actually is, coming out and saying the words “I am a feminist” can be quite daunting. Doing so as a teenager is particularly intimidating. Considering that so many people our age believe stereotypes such as all feminists are lesbians who don’t shave their legs and burn their bras, it’s hardly surprising that many of us are reluctant to openly declare our belief in gender equality.

The truth is feminism is only a dirty word because many people don’t know what it actually is. It’s not hard to find out the truth, though. Even Wikipedia knows that “Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending …

A Conversation with Young Author Alex Schnee

When I heard about Alex Schnee, an author and student at Sarah Lawrence college, and her recently published novel, Shakespeare’s Lady, I knew that I had to talk with her. We decided to Skype about both publishing books around the same time, what our experiences were like and why some view young women our age as complacent.

Julie Zeilinger: Ok, so can you just start by explaining briefly what your book is about?

Alex Schnee: Sure. It’s about the “dark lady” of Shakespeare’s sonnets. Nobody really knows who she is, but I found a woman living at that time who has been propositioned as the dark lady by several scholars. I tried to weave together a fictional romance between William Shakespeare and this woman, Emilia Bassano …

A Rant About My Sexist Week

what the "Funny Sexist" thinks is funny and what pisses me off

There has been too much sexism is surrounding me this week and it’s really getting me down.

To start, a boy I know who I considered one of my friends and who knew about my intolerance for sexism thought it’d be really hilarious to pull the: “Do you want to hear a joke? Women’s rights” joke on me. The first couple of times he said this I ignored him. But then after a few more times, I told him to fuck off. He has continued to repeat it to me all of this week. The worst thing is, he’s not even just being a jerk because he thinks it’s funny, he even said “It’s hard for a man …